The present invention relates generally to the fabrication of solar energy collector units and, more particularly, to a soldering apparatus for securing a tubular piping system to a heat-absorbing plate.
In recent years, much attention has been directed to the development of solar energy collectors in an effort to harness the virtually unlimited and free source of energy provided by the sun. This development has been accelerated by the ever-increasing costs and dwindling supplies of the conventional fossil fuel energy sources. One of the more popular of the various solar energy collection devices proposed is the so-called "flat-plate" collector. This type of collector includes a generally flat heat or energy absorbing plate to which is attached a fluid conveying piping or conduit system. The heat energy absorbed by the plate is transferred via the conduit system to the fluid passing therethrough and is subsequently extracted at a remote location as heat energy for whatever purpose desired.
While such known solar energy collectors serve the purposes for which they were designed, a serious deterrent to a more widespread use of them resides in the large capital outlay required in initially installing systems incorporating such collectors. The high production costs of such collectors resides primarily in the materials employed and the labor involved. Rather than sacrifice efficiency of the collectors by the use of cheaper materials, a better alternative in reducing production costs is to minimize the labor involved by providing a method of and apparatus for mass producing such collector plates as a large volume operation.